Apparatus for discharging and loading burnishing barrels



July 3, i934.. w. R. HARTLEY 199659077 APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING ANDLOADING BURNISHING BARRELS Filed OCC. l, 1931 2 Sheets-Shree l I I mb?.Y hm nm. EN

,Buy 39 393% w. R. HARTLEY APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING AND LOADINGBURNISHING BARRELS Filed Oct. l, 1931 2 Sheecs-Sheecl 2 Patented July 3,1934 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR DISCHARGING AND LOAD- ING BURNISHINGBARRELS William R. Hartley, New Haven, Conn.

Application October 1, 1931, Serial No. 566,227

3 Claims.

My invention relates to an apparatus used in connection with barrelsemployed for burnishing metallic articles to receive the contents ofsuch barrels and to recharge the barrels, and an object of my invention,among others, is to provide an apparatus of this kind by means of whichthe burnishing elements may be readily separated from the burnishedarticles and returned to the barrels for further burnishing operations,

the discharged burnished articles being deposited in receptacles thatare conveniently removable from the apparatus.

One form of an apparatus embodying my invention and in the constructionand use of which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may beattained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side view of my improved apparatus.

Figure 2 is a tcp view, with parts broken away to show construction, andparts being omitted for clearness.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view on enlarged scale of a portion ofthe apparatus, the plane of section being approximately on the dottedline 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a top View of one corner of one oi the releasing valves.

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section through the upper end of thehopper illustrating the operation of the buckets in deliveringburnishing elements thereto.

In burnishing operations it is common practice at the present time tojournal the burnishing barrels in standards of sufficient heightr toenable receptacles to be placed under the barrel to receive the contentsthereof which are dumped into the receptacle. The burnishing elementshaving been separated from the burnished articles are returned to thebarrel along with a new supply of articles to be burnished and togetherwith a liquid compound which is employed in the burnishing operation,the barrel having been placed with its receiving opening approximatelyat the top for the purpose. This work of elevating the burnishingelements to the height required to place them in the barrel has beenmanually performed in different ways, all of which are veryobjectionable, owing to the labor and time required for the operation.

All of these objections are obviated in the use of my improved apparatusillustrated in the drawings herein, which apparatus comprises a framecomposed of a base and a tower secured to 5,5 and rising from one end ofthe base. The base frame is of rectangular shape and includes side rails10 comprising opposite sides of the frame that may be of any desiredshape and of any suitable material, and which are joined at their endsby end rails in any suitable manner. A pair of 6 supporting wheels 11are mounted in any suitable manner in the base frame for support of oneend thereof, as that end opposite the tower, and the opposite or towerend is supported by a single wheel 12, which is mounted in acaster-like'device. This device includes a foot 13 which is forked toreceive the journal of the wheel in a manner common to structures ofthis type, said foot being pivoted at 14 to a swivelling stud 15rotatably mounted in a bearing in a bracket 16 secured to 70 the end ofthe base frame and as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

A hand lever 17 is rigidly secured to and extends from the foot 13 as ameans for swinging it on its pivots and for moving the frame as a wholeby means of its supporting wheels just described. A catch 18 for saidhandle is secured to and projects from the frame 19 comprising thetowerhereinbefore referred to.

A rest 20 for the end of the base frame opposite the wheels 11 issecured to the end of said frame and this rest may be a short length ofchannel iron tted over the end rail of the base frame at the crosswisecenter thereof and the bracket 16 may be seated upon this rest, which isprovided on its bottom with ribs or studs to comprise gripping elementsto holdV the structure from movement when desired. When the handle 17 isswung downwardly this end of the frame will be raised and then supportedon the wheel 12 and the handle may be then used to roll the frame to anydesired location in a manner that will be readily understood and toguide it in such movements.

Brackets 21 are secured at intervals along the side rails 10 and acontainer 22, preferably of rectangular shape7 is supported on thesebrackets. rIhe upper edges of the sides of this container haveanti-friction rollers 23 mounted thereon in any suitable manner, and atray 24, also preferably of rectangular shape, has anges projectinglaterally from its upper side edges which rest upon said rollers, thetray depending between the sides of the container at the upper partthereof. The bottom of they tray is a screen, a portion only or" theperforations being shown in Figure 2, such perforations being of a sizeYto permit the burnishing elements to pass through but to retain theburnished articles.

As a means for vfacilitating the separation of the burnishing elementsand articles means are provided for shaking the trays this consisting ofa link 25 removably attached at one end in any suitable manner to oneend of the tray and pivotally secured at its opposite end to a crank 26supported in the tower frame and actuated through a belt 27 extendingfrom a pulley secured to the spindle of a motor 28 also mounted onthetower frame.

The bottom of the container 22 slopes downwardly from each side to itslengthwise center along which it is provided with a slot or slots 29through which the burnishing elements pass after rolling or slidingacross the sloping bottom. Gate valves 30 are slidably supported on avalve supporting plate 31 extending across the base frame from end toend and secured at its ends to the end rails of said base frame. Thevalves are operated as by means of bell crank levers 32 pivotallymounted on the plate 31 to which are attached actuating rods 33extending to a suitable location in proximity to the tower, as shown inFigures 1 and 2. T-shaped guides 34 are secured to the plate 31 to guidethe movements of the valves, the cross portions at the ends acting asstops for said valves to determine their closed positions, said guidesbeing slightly thicker than the valves to provide space between theplate 31 and bottom of the container for free sliding movements of thevalves.

The apparatus includes means for transferring the burnishing elementsfrom the container after separation from the burnished articles and forelevating them to such height that they will move by gravity to be againplaced in the burnishing barrel or other receptacle that may be desired.This mechanism includes a conveyor embodying pair of sprocket chains 35having buckets 36 pivotally mounted between them, said chains beingsupported on pairs of sprocket wheels 37, 38, 39 and 4D, the pair 39being mounted at the top of the tower and the other three pairs beingmounted on the base frame. The sides and bottoms of the buckets areperforated to permit the liquid that flows from the barrel when thecontents are dumped to drain oi.

In order to close the space between the buckets and prevent theburnishing elements from passing through the conveyor when travellinghorizontally underneath the container a lip 41 is formed on the upperedge of one side of each bucket, said lips each being of a width tooverlap the edge of the adjoining bucket and close the openingtherebetween.

The plate 31 has slots 42 adapted to register with the slots 29 in thebottom of the container when the valves are in their opened positions.The sprocket wheels 38 are rotated by means of a chain extending from asprocket on the motor shaft as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, theupper part of the conveyor underneath the container moving toward thetower and then upwardly.

Mounted between the sprockets 39 and around the shaft 43 supporting saidsprockets is a hopper 44 to the lower end of which a chute 45 isconnected that may be properly inclined as by rotation on the shaft 43to cause flow of the burnishing elements into a burnishing barrel orother receptacle, It is here explained that this apparatus when placedfor use is located with the container 22 underneath said barrel and thedelivery end of the chute in position for iiow of the burnishingelements into the barrel. The location of the hopper within the loopformed at the upper end of the conveyor is of particular advantage inthat the buckets when discharging their loads are maintained for aperiod over the mouth of the hopper and a faster movement may be hadthan would be the case if the buckets were tipped in the oppositedirection over a hopper located outside of the loops in the chains.Dumping of the buckets is effected by means of a roller 46 at the end ofan arm projecting from the hopper, as shown in Figure 5, said rollerbeing located in the path of movement of an upper edge of each bucket asit passes over the mouth of the hopper. Any suitable means may beemployed for holding the chute in such inclined position as it may beplaced in when pivotally moved on its pivot.

rIhe chains 35 may be supported in any well known manner to ensure closeproximity of the mouths of the buckets to the under side of the plate31. The pivotal mount of the buckets includes a sleeve 47 extendingthrough each bucket and receiving in its opposite ends pivot studs 48,secured to and projecting from the links 49 of the chains and as shownin Figure 3 of the drawings, the pivots being so positioned on thebuckets that the latter, by the action of gravity, will always belocated with their mouths upward, and particularly after having beentipped from that position by the action of the roller 46. Any suitablestop may be employed to prevent each bucket from tipping too far owingto the disposition of the greater weight on one side of the pivot, saidstops therefore keeping the buckets with their open ends upward.

The container 22 is provided at that end opposite the tower with aremovable screen 50 located between guides, as shown in Figure 2, saidscreen permitting outflow of such excessive amount of liquid as mayaccumulate in the container when the valves 30 are Closed, as when thecontents of the barrel are being dumped into the container. Thecontainer is closed by an end 51 that is removably held in place, saidscreen and said end eing removable to permit the tray 24 to be slid outof the container.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I havedescribed the principles of operation of my invention together with thedevice which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof;but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is onlyillustrative, and that the invention may be carried out by other meansand applied to uses other than those above set out.

I claim:

1. A discharging and loading apparatus including a frame, a containersupported on said frame and having a sloping bottom terminating in anoutlet slot, a valve to control movement of elements through said slot,a separating tray supported on said container, a chute projecting fromsaid frame over said tray and spaced therefrom for the reception betweenSaid chute and tray of a container to be discharged and loaded, and aconveyor to carry elements from said container and deliver them to saidchute.

2. A discharging and loading apparatus including a frame, a containersupported on said frame and having a sloping bottom terminating in aplurality of slots, separately operable valves for said slots to controlmovement of elements therethrough, a separating tray supported on saidcontainer, a chute projecting from said frame over said tray and spacedtherefrom for the reception between said chute and tray of a veyorincluding buckets travelling underneath in proximity to said plate, aseparating tray supported on said container, and a chute projecting fromsaid frame over said tray and spaced therefrom for the reception betweensaid chute and tray of a container to be discharged and loaded toreceive elements from said conveyor.

WILLIAM R. HARTLEY.

